 Back on Track
Not too long ago, 29 year old David had close friendships, played in a rock band, was happily employed, attended university and was married to his best friend. When David lost his job, he quit the band, quit school, turned his back on family, friends, and work and started heavily using cocaine.
With a large inheritance, his wife purchased a condo and supported a healthy drug addiction for both of them. “The only person I did not turn my back on was my wife,” recalls David.
Soon David’s drug of choice was heroin, “From the first time I tried it, I was hooked.” For three years, every single day revolved around getting and using heroin and crack cocaine. He tried to get clean five times by going to detox, but each time he got out, he started using almost immediately.
When David started hearing voices, his life spiraled further down. “Nothing could drown the voices; they affected every aspect of my life. I couldn’t function, couldn’t sleep.” Haunted by the voices and determined to make them stop, sleep-deprived and delusional on crack, David was caught trying to break into a unit in his own condo complex.
Through the court process, David went for psychiatric evaluation and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. When released on conditional discharge, he faced life on the street alone, as he and his wife needed time apart so they could each get clean. David had relied on his wife for basic life skills, so he did not know how to care for himself and did not take his medication regularly.
David’s mental health team recommended that the Coast Cottages could be an excellent way for him to get structure and take control of his life. The day before his arrival, David took his last hit of heroin. He detoxed at the cottages for two months with no methadone. He needed that time to recover physically and mentally.
Once healthy, he started to learn chores, basic life skills and cooking. Slowly David started to come out of his shell. For so many years he had stayed indoors in a drug-induced haze. Now he is going on outings, shopping, and moving through a program to help him become more independent.
David has been at the Coast Cottages for almost a year and although he hit a bump along the road, he has been clean for over 10 months. What a difference 10 months can make. He now participates in drug and alcohol programs every day, exercises, volunteers and has made new friends. David is now headed back to school to finish his fourth year of university to complete his degree in commerce. “Coast Mental Health has made the difference in my life, not just because of the funding to go back to school, but they have made it possible for me take back control of life.”
“Coast Cottages was exactly what I needed. They saved my life.” The staff at the Coast cottages provides a stigma-free environment where the correct support is provided. David says that he has been able to maintain his relationship with his wife and is reconnecting with the friends he had before his addictions took over. “I feel whole again, my life has meaning and purpose. I had forgotten what it felt like to be alive.”
David plans on living at the Cottages for at least another year to ensure he is able to maintain his new lifestyle. He says that recovery is a daily thing; something that he has worked on and can be proud of. In the fall he plans to participate in the Peer Support Worker Program offered at Coast Mental Health, so he can share his story to let others know that recovery is possible and positive change can happen.
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